1. Field of the invention
This invention relates, generally, to eating utensils that are interconnected to one another for convenience.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inventors have developed numerous designs that enable the interconnection of knives, forks, spoons, corkscrews, can openers, and the like. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 284,442, 318,600, 937,613, 1,178,122, 2,470,492, 4,524,512, and 4,995,154. These designs have utility because they minimize the probability of losing an important utensil by ensuring that all needed utensils will be together at one location. This facilitates packing for picnics and the like.
If too many items are joined in combination, however, the bulk of the combination utensil renders it unwieldy and unsuitable for use. Thus, the most popular combination utensil item is the combination knife, fork, and spoon. Since the distal end of a spoon or fork is arcuate in configuration, the design of a combination knife, fork, and spoon is somewhat problematical. Some designs are difficult to use because it is difficult to reassemble the utensils after thay have been separated for use; some are not even easy to disassemble. Thus, they may be reassembled incorrectly after use. Others are expensive to fabricate and may also use large amounts of materials because of their design peculiarities. Thus, despite the differing approaches shown in the above-identified patents, an optimal design that is easy to assemble and disassemble, which saves materials, and which is inexpensive to make, has long eluded inventors.
Significantly, when the prior art is considered as a whole, it neither teaches nor suggests to those of ordinary skill in this art how an optimal design could be achieved.